Recently Arriva has announced that it is ceasing the Number 2 bus service from Kemsing to Sevenoaks (which includes a service to the Sevenoaks schools - Knole, Trinity and the Weald annex), with effect from this coming weekend. This is a commercial service, and the judgement about the viability of the route is the company's. KCC does not commission or subsidise such routes, but it will always examine the options (and in this case had good notification from Arriva) and work with the bus companies to try to find a solution, or at least a mitigation.
That is what KCC officers have done in this case, and Go Coach has stepped forward with its number six service to fill in many of the gaps. As is often the case, this does not substitute in full – for example there is a loss of services later in the day – but does nonetheless provide cover, including with respect to the school journeys albeit combined into one service (with a larger vehicle) from two. It is good that Go Coach have stepped forward in this way, and we will have to see how the new replacement service works out.
